Five things I want under the E-O Tree

14:51
Cholis Back
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According to at least one recruit, Matt Rhule is putting together an all-star staff.

Hate to make rash judgments, but I saw enough of Nick Foles over the last few weeks to know one thing: The guy would make a good NFL backup, but he's not a starting quarterback in this league.Nick Foles can't play.He reminds me of a more polished Vaughn Charlton.

Owls need a DE with a game tomatch a game face.

Saw enough of him that I was jumping around on the TV at the gym yesterday and settled on the movie "Lord of the Rings: Helms Deep."Then I saw exactly what the Temple defense needs: An Aragorn. The guy chopped off more heads than King Henry VIII and that was just with one swing.That's just the type of defensive end Temple football needs right now, a Warrior who doesn't use excuses like "getting injured" or "lack of foot speed" for not getting to the quarterback.If I had a dollar for the "almost" sacks of John Youboty, I'd be a rich man. Youboty was a split-second late on a lot of would-be sacks that became touchdown passes (Matt McGloin's long one in the PSU game immediately comes to mind).

Mum is the word with Tyler Haddock-Jones, buthe's excited about the new staff after talking withMatt Rhule at 1:22 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.

I'm starting to warm up to the idea of Matt Rhule as Temple's head coach because the recruits and other coaches like him so much and because he's so connected to the available talent out there. If Rhule has to dip into the JUCO ranks to get a guy with an Aragorn motor, so be it. I don't think the kid currently is on the roster. Four other things I want to see under the Edberg-Olson Football Complex tree soon:2) A practice bubble It's ridiculous that Temple has to travel to the Nova Care Center to practice in inclement weather. Here's hoping a temporary structure at least can be put up immediately until funds for a more permanent one can be located. The week before the Louisville game, the Owls missed a whole day of practice time due to Hurricane Sandy and that certainly didn't help. 3) Chuck Heater wrapped up as DC I know a lot of people were down on him at the end of the season, but he had absolutely no pass rush and, without a pass rush, you can't have a pass defense. When you look at his body of work wherever he's been, if he's not the best defensive coordinator in the country he's right up there. Indications, though, are that Heater will be around. One of the Temple recruits tweeted that he "talked to coach Rhule about the staff" and he's stoked about Rhule's impeding announcements, calling the group "geniuses." Genius is always the first word that comes up in my mind when I think of Chuck Heater. 4) Size on the lines Steve Addazio did a lot of things half-hazardly as Temple's head coach, but none more than recruiting. He would recruit an inordinate amount of small guys and that really took its toll on the field of play this year with bigger lines pushing the Owls around. It's nice to get smaller-size guys with heart, but it's even nice to get larger-size guys with heart. Something tells me Rhule will restore some sanity to the overall recruiting model.5) Another quarterback Right now the Owls are down to one recruit, P.J. Walker. P.J., I think, is going to be a great one but consider this: He's the only true QB in the entire program after the 2013 season. The Owls need to sign another big-time arm now.

Meanwhile, Merry Christmas everyone and wouldn't it be great if the football team could do to Notre Dame what the basketball team did to Syracuse?(Nah, I haven't been dipping into the egg nog early, if that's what you are thinking.)